Posted tagged ‘RealtyTrac’

Is this a useful and trustworthy tool for gauging the threat from natural disasters or is it just a listing of when they have happened in the past ? Does past occurrences necessary mean they will happen in the future? Is this another way to raise insurance rates and for lenders to require additional insurance? For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

RealtyTrac released its first-ever Natural Disaster Housing Risk Report Thursday, which assigns a risk score for a natural disaster to more than 3,000 county housing markets nationwide. Scores were based on risk data for three natural disasters—hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes—and each county was assigned to one of five categories based on their score: Very High Risk, High Risk, Medium Risk, Low Risk, and Very Low Risk.

The company analyzed 3,138 U.S. counties, and found that 373 were classified as Very High Risk, representing roughly 12 percent of all counties. Housing units in the Very High Risk counties totaled 10.6 million—8 percent of total U.S. housing units.

The Very Low Risk category had 271 counties, representing 3.9 million housing units—a mere 3 percent of total U.S. housing units.

The company found, “The biggest percentage of counties and housing units fell into the High Risk Category: 1,118 counties with a combined housing unit total of 61 million—representing 47 percent of total U.S. housing units.”

“The potential risk of a natural disaster may not be the first item on most homebuyer checklists for a dream home, but prudent buyers will certainly take this into consideration along with myriad other factors that could affect home value,” said Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac. “In the past natural disaster data was technically available, but difficult for buyers and homeowners to dig up; however, now the data is readily available online for virtually any U.S. property, and buyers should take advantage of this.

This comes as no surprise as the majority of at risk properties have already been foreclosed on. Also with the rise in home prices more homes are in an equity position and can therefore be sold without costing the home owner money. For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

Foreclosure filings were reported on roughly 110,000 U.S. properties in May, a 5 percent decrease from April, according to RealtyTrac’s latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, were down 26 percent year-over-year in May to the lowest level since December 2006.

The report found that one in every 1,199 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing during the month.

However, individual states saw monthly increases despite the overall national decline. Statewide, 21 states posted monthly increases in overall activity, with 11 states posting annual increases in foreclosure activity.

“It’s not surprising that some of the states with the longest foreclosure timelines are those with markets still dealing with increasing foreclosure activity even as the country as a whole continues to hit new lows,” said Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac. “On the other hand, the increase in bank repossessions in some states with shorter foreclosure timelines like California and Oregon demonstrates there is still some pent-up foreclosure activity in those states as well.”

Bank repossessions also fell in May, hitting the lowest level seen since July 2007—an 82-month low. Lenders repossessed 28,373 U.S. properties in May, down 6 percent month-over-month and down 27 percent yearly.

The share of all-cash sales reached a new high in the first quarter of 2014, even as the total share of institutional investor purchases dropped to near-record lows. All-cash sales made up 42.7 percent of all U.S. residential property sales for Q1, up from 37.8 percent from the previous quarter, according to RealtyTrac’s U.S. Institutional Investor and Cash Sales Report.

All-cash sales increased yearly as well, up from 19.1 percent of all sales in Q1 2013. All-cash sales are the highest they have been since RealtyTrac began tracking this data in 2011.

“Strict lending standards combined with low inventory continue to give the advantage to investors and other cash buyers in this housing market,” said Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac. “The good news is that as institutional investors pull back their purchasing in many markets across the country, there is still strong demand from other cash buyers—including individual investors, second-home buyers and even owner-occupant buyers—to fill the vacuum of demand left by institutional investors.”

15 percent of all-cash purchases were for foreclosures, with 10 percent for REO properties. The average sales price of an all-cash purchase, $207,668, was 13 percent below the average estimated full market value of $237,900.

While all-cash purchases were soaring to new heights to start the year, total investor purchases dropped to the lowest level seen since Q1 2012.

5.6 percent of all U.S. residential sales in Q1 2014 were from institutional investors, which RealtyTrac notates as a non-lending entity that purchases at least 10 properties in the past 12 months.

Is the “Elevated Foreclosure Activity” caused because the reposed property is finally making its way through the court system or is it because the banks have been rat holing these homes and now that prices are up they are going to sell them? For a more detailed look at this subject – please read the article below.

Foreclosure auctions in judicial states rose annually for the 16th straight month in October. RealtyTrac recorded a total of 30,023 scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions nationwide last month, up 10 percent from the previous month and up 7 percent from October 2012.

“The backlog of delayed judicial foreclosures continues to make its way through the pipeline, with many of these properties now being scheduled for the public auction after starting the foreclosure process last year or earlier this year,” said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac VP.

Blomquist says lenders are moving these properties to public auction more rapidly because there is strong demand from institutional investors looking for buy-to-rent opportunities. In addition, he notes that rising home prices mean more loan losses can be recouped, either by selling off foreclosure assets to investors at auction or by repossessing and reselling properties as bank owned.

Overall, RealtyTrac reported 133,919 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing—default notice, scheduled auction, or bank repossession—in October. That represents a 2 percent increase from the previous month but a 28 percent decrease from a year earlier. RealtyTrac’s data shows one in every 978 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month of October.

The FHA 203(K) finance program is a great way to buy a home that needs some major repairs or the upgrade your existing home during a refinance. For you homeowners that need to make your home more handicap compatible these could be the ideal solutions. For a more detailed look at this subject please read the article below.

Seventy-one percent of single-family homes in the United States were built before 1990, according to a new industry report from RealtyTrac.

This older housing stock comes with less competition from other buyers and lower price points. Year-to-date in 2013, 60 percent of residential transactions have involved homes built prior to 1990, RealtyTrac reports.

“The high percentage of homes that are at least 20 years old and likely in need of some major repairs is eye-opening,” said Jake Adger, chief economist at RealtyTrac. “However, given the low inventory of homes available for sale in today’s market, this challenge of aging U.S. housing supply can also be an opportunity for buyers looking for a bargain and homeowners looking to update their living space and improve the value of their homes.”

Adger notes that the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) 203(k) program is the government’s answer for the nation’s aging housing supply. Owner-occupant buyers can take advantage of the 203(k) program to finance the purchase, rehab, and upgrade of an older home, while homeowners can take advantage of the program to roll renovation costs into a mortgage refinance.

Michael Mahon, EVP and broker at HER Realtors in Columbus, Ohio, says homeowners should consider programs to invest in modifications and repairs as the nation’s housing inventory continues to age. “The FHA203(k) loan program is a great example of how community and housing redevelopment efforts can provide a higher rate of return on equity for homeowners,” according to Mahon.

As long as prices are relatively low investors can see an opportunity to make a reasonable profit they will keep buying. If financing for home buyers become a lot more restrictive or the interest rates go way up look for the investors to vanish. For a more detailed look at this subject please read the article below.

Investors remain a crucial factor in the U.S. housing market. Both large institutional and smaller “mom and pop” investors have been very active purchasing homes at a steep discount, primarily in housing-bust markets that have seen dramatic decreases in prices over the past several years.

RealtyTrac recently released its September Residential and Foreclosure Sales Report, reporting that nearly half of the home sales in September were all-cash transactions, signaling significant investor presence. This proportion is up significantly from 40 percent in August and 30 percent in September 2012.

While all-cash purchases and institutional investors usually go hand-in-hand, RealtyTrac reports that institutional investors (defined by the firm as purchasing 10 or more properties in the last 12 months) accounted for 14 percent of sales in September, the highest percentage since the company’s data tracking began in January 2011.

While RealtyTrac’s definition of institutional investors certainly captures the larger institutions purchasing houses in bulk, we consider the all-cash share of purchases a better gauge for non-occupier home purchase activity, since smaller investors that purchase one home at a time, repair and remodel it, offer it for re-sale, and then repeat the process will generally not fall into the 10-plus purchases per year category but often purchase all-cash.

Many in the real estate industry believe there is a listing shortage, but a close look at the numbers suggests buyers in most markets are purchasing homes in increasingly larger volumes—even if some of those sales involve off-market homes not listed for sale.

In July there was a 5.1-month supply of unsold existing homes, unchanged from June but down from a 6.3-month supply in July 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). But despite the lower inventory, the volume of home sales continues to increase.

In most businesses, everyone is elated when sales increase. For those in real estate, more sales equal more opportunities to generate transaction commissions, which is a good thing. And yet, the real estate community is somehow concerned when sales have been increasing month after month for nearly two years and prices are 11 percent higher than a year ago.

“The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun back in May of the April numbers. “Without these frictions, existing-home sales easily would be well above the 5-million unit pace.”

It turns out home sales did exceed that 5 million pace the very next month, in May, as well as in June and July, according to NAR—even with the frictions still in place.

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